COMOROS: The 14-year-old survivor of the Indian Ocean plane crash clung to wreckage for 12 hours before being rescued

Record ID: 574817

  • Title: COMOROS: The 14-year-old survivor of the Indian Ocean plane crash clung to wreckage for 12 hours before being rescued
  • Date: 2nd July 2009
  • Summary: MORONI, COMOROS (JULY 01, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MORONI'S EL MAROUF HOSPITAL WHERE RESCUED GIRL IS BEING TREATED NURSES AT HOSPITAL FRENCH MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ALAIN JOYANDET WALKING WITH COMOROS OFFICIALS FAMILY AND FRIENDS AT HOSPITAL (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, ALAIN JOYANDET SAYING: "Listen. I've just seen this child and it's a genuine miracle. She really displayed a lot of courage. She hung on to a piece of wreckage for more than 12 hours. The doctors have just told me that she's doing very well. She's obviously extremely traumatised. Psychologically, she has obviously been impacted and affected: she has just lost her mother. Her father will arrive this afternoon and France will do absolutely everything it can to repatriate her with the medical support agreed with the doctors." BOATS IN WATER HEADING TO SITE OF CRASH VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WATCHING RESCUE EFFORTS SEARCH HELICOPTER CIRCLING OVER WATER
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Comoros
  • Country: Comoros
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVABYAUBZ3CQE1WNX0G6BDEQQUGK
  • Story Text: The 14-year-old survivor of the Indian Ocean plane crash clung to wreckage for 12 hours before being rescued.
    The teenage girl who survived the Yemeni plane crash off the Comoros archipelago hung on to a piece of debris from the doomed jet for more than 12 hours until rescuers managed to reach her.
    The French Minister for International Development, Alain Joyandet, described it as "a genuine miracle."
    He visited 14-year-old Bakari Bahia, a Franco-Comoran girl, in hospital in the capital Moroni on Wednesday (July 1) and praised her courage.
    "The doctors have told me she's doing well. She's obviously extremely traumatised. Psychologically, she has obviously been impacted and affected. She has just lost her mother." he said.
    Joyandet said the girl's father would arrive later on Wednesday and France would do "absolutely everything it can" to make sure she got the best medical attention and support.
    The teenager had cuts to her face and a fractured collar-bone, but was described as stable overnight.
    She was among 153 people on board the Yemenia airline Airbus A310-300, including 66 French nationals, when crashed as it approached Moroni in bad weather.
    Though a full list has not yet been published, a Yemeni official said there were also nationals from Canada, Comoros, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, the Philippines and Yemen on board.
    Comoran officials said France had sent a plane, and was also moving two ships into the area, on Wednesday to launch a formal search operation. The United States also sent a helicopter to help, and a plane with supplies.
    The crashed plane was the second Airbus to plunge into the sea this month. An Air France Airbus A330-200 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing 228 people on board on June 1.
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